Makai Hongi

Chapter 151

When it was night time, a servant was sent to me from Corps Commander Dyle.

Now this was a surprise, and it turned out that he wrote me a letter.

The servant left as soon as I accepted it.

And so there was nothing for me to do but roll onto my bed and read.

In the Demon World, people did not write formal greetings. Especially not military people. There were no literary flourishes.

They just told you what you needed to know in brief sentences.

“…That’s what I thought.”

But this letter was rather long.

There were words of appreciation and praise for the previous days of training, as well as today’s results.

In fact, it was almost off-putting how much he praised us.

Of course, I immediately became suspicious about there being more to this letter. And so I called in Rig to help me decipher it.

“It does not seem particularly strange to me, sir.”

“You can’t be serious. There is definitely some kind of trick to it.”

“I don’t know what to say…”

Rig looked troubled, but I would not back down.

I thought back on all of our training up until now.

No matter how I looked at it, all of the trials the Corps Commander had prepared for us felt ‘malicious.’

And so there must be something to this letter.

That’s what I thought…

“I really don’t think there is anything. Besides…he is just telling you that there will be no training tomorrow. No, that he will let you know when the next training will start, and that you can rest until then.”

“That can’t be it! There must be something! Hey, Rig. Think of a way to find out what he really means. I need the answer.”

The answer.

As I insisted he do something, Rig muttered, ‘I have my own training tomorrow, so I must go now’ and he left.

“It’s not right. Perhaps he’s letting us think we can rest, only we’ll fail the test if we don’t gather together in the morning. Maybe he’ll rescind the day of rest… No, wait. He said that we will be able to rest for a while starting tomorrow, but maybe there will be special training. Yes. I won’t be fooled!”

Then it wasn’t just normal training that we were supposed to undergo.

Well, I’ll show him tomorrow.

And then it was the next day.

I waited and waited. But it seemed that it really was a day of rest, as Corps Commander Dyle had gone off somewhere.

No matter how long I waited, we received no news of any special training. And so I decided to go and see them in person. This caused quite a stir in the Corps Commander’s tent, as they thought this was an uprising.

Well, it was because I had gone in full gear, with my sword and metal staff. So it was no wonder that they were surprised. But I still thought it was overblown.

“I accidentally attacked the Deputy Corps Commander.”

The Corps Commander’s soldiers had come running at me with spears, and so I had instinctively grabbed the Deputy Corps Commander who had been close by, and escaped.

However, he made such a fuss about it, that I had to bash him over the head a few times and carry him over my shoulder. It was a close call. I was nearly arrested in spite of being innocent.

“Now that I think about it, where did he go?”

I had tossed him to the side on the way, as he was no longer useful. But I hoped he was alright.

Apparently, Corps Commander Dyle had returned to General Miralda’s main camp during the night. And when he returned, he saw that his men were preparing to rescue the Deputy Corps Commander.

But he understood that it was clearly a mistake, and so he calmed them down and came to talk to me.

However, there were at least ten of his soldiers hiding behind him, and they were all wielding weapons. The other Ogres immediately reacted to this ominous atmosphere, and launched a preemptive attack.

Of course, the soldiers expected to be ambushed, and so they reacted calmly and without panicking.

Not only that, but the Corps Commander’s men wielded actual swords, which was bad news for my comrades.

That’s when Saifo and Beka appeared. At first I thought they were going to stop the others, but instead, they joined them happily.

And so I had no choice but to join them until everything became quiet.

It was when I was finally able to talk to Dyle that he asked, ‘Why did you start a rebellion? Was it General Farneze’s doing?’

It was just as I was about to insist that it was all a misunderstanding. I noticed something.

I was stepping on one of his soldiers who lay on the ground.

But well…after giving him an honest account of what had happened, he finally understood.

Though, he did unsheathe his sword at least twice while we talked.

And while I felt that it had all started because of their mistake, it was clear that Dyle didn’t agree. After all, I had been fully armed while shouting ‘where’s Dyle?’ as I jumped into their camp. It was no wonder that they assumed I had come to attack him.

But I had only been prepared because I suspected there would be some kind of special training.

“They told me that you came running towards them with blood-shot eyes.”

“I hadn’t got much sleep because I stayed up trying to think about what you had planned.”

“…”

Ultimately, they were also able to recover the Deputy Corps Commander I had tossed out.

“In the first place, why did you send a letter?”

Ever since receiving it last night, I couldn’t stop thinking that there was something behind it.

“Because I decided to return to the main camp in order to make a request regarding the next part of your training. I wrote the letter while my subordinates prepared for our departure. I could have gone to meet you directly, but I’d be able to reach the main camp by morning if I left during the night.”

So it really was nothing at all.

He just didn’t have enough time.

“Well, I understand that now. But saying we have to rest until…”

“You should rest when you can. That is something you’ll have to learn in this army.”

“I know that, but…”

The other Ogres were too excited for that right now. I was worried about what they would do if they couldn’t let off some steam.

“Besides, the training with the other races isn’t moving as smoothly. I would prefer it if you all advanced together.”

“I see. Well, now that you mention it, there’s something that’s been bothering me.”

“What?”

“We’re all training separately now. But shouldn’t there be training that we all participate in together?”

It was strange that the contents of the training was so different between races.

“It’s because you’re still in basic training. That is the rule. One of the goals of this training is ensuring that each race can move as a group.”

“If you can’t coordinate with your own kind, then you have no hope of doing it with others?”

“Exactly. As for training that involves multiple races, that is a state secret. And I will not be able to tell you about it even after you finish your basic training.”

As it would allow people to predict the movements of the army, it was a tightly kept secret.

“I understand. It’s a good reason. So, when will our training continue?”

“We’re in the middle of preparing a worthy opponent. They should arrive in two to three days. I’ll let you know when they do. That’s when your training will continue.”

“Understood.”

“Also, don’t walk around the camp fully armed like that. Even my men will be intimidated.”

“I’m not someone that just bites in every direction.”

“They understand that. However, one must be careful around someone who bites in every other direction. Now, you must excuse me.”

“Good day, Corps Commander.”

“Aye…”

After Dyle left, a certain thought hit me.

“…Do I really bite in every other direction?”

This was malicious slander.